Losing 60 Pounds Part 1: We become what we think about most of the time

Note: This post is Part 1 of a 6 Part Series on how I lost 60 pounds. You can find a list of all of the posts in this series here. Or, if you want the whole kit and caboodle in one mammoth post, you can click here. (Update as of April 17, 2017: I’ve now lost 70 pounds and am no longer trying to lose weight, just trying to get fitter and stronger).

I’ve lost 60 pounds.

I feel amazing. Everything is easier. Long car rides are more comfortable. Plane seats feel bigger (although still small for my 6’4″ frame). I have more energy for playing with my kids. I’m cycling and skiing better. I feel confident and it is nice to have people who haven’t seen me in a while to say, “Wow, you look good.” When I set out on this journey, I didn’t want people to think, “Wait… has he lost weight?” I wanted them to say to me, “What the !%&$ have you been doing?”

“Diet and exercise,” I say with a laugh. But it’s not really that simple, and for anyone who’s struggled with their weight it can feel defeating to hear such a simple answer.

A year ago I was feeling pretty depressed about my body. I had an injury that had set me back, but the huge plates of nachos my wife and I were making as a late night snack a few days a week weren’t helping either.

I wanted to get back in shape. Started waking up every morning and doing push-ups and sit-ups and stretching. I wasn’t serious, but I was doing something. Then I was laying in bed one morning and realized I had no excuse. I wrote this blog post then about my goal to achieve phenomenal shape. I always wanted to be in shape. I don’t know what made that morning different, but it was different. It was more than a want or a wish.

Me with my daughters in a boat on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. Lot of Clark.

Winter 2016. All dressed up and feeling fat.

Here’s the #1 thing I would tell anyone who seriously asks me about getting in shape.

We become what we think about most of the time.

This is true with everything in life. I have seen this principle come true in my life on countless occasions. Everything I have ever achieved in my life I have achieved because I have fixed that thing in my mind and thought about it constantly. If I wanted to be fit, if I wanted to lose 50 pounds, if I wanted to achieve phenomenal physical conditioning, I needed to spend a proportionate amount of time thinking about my health and wellness. I needed to think about it all the time.

If you want to lose weight, maybe this isn’t what you wanted to hear. Maybe you wanted me to recommend a diet or a pill (although I do have some things to say about that below). But let me tell you, losing 50 pounds isn’t a casual endeavor. I obsessed over this. Obsessed. I became finicky about my diet. I weighed myself every day, sometimes two or three or four times a day. I became fanatical.

If I were to suddenly get into cars, I’d start reading books and blogs about cars. I’d join Facebook groups where people talk about cars. I’d find a friend who was into cars and start talking cars with him. I did that in relation to my body. I found a friend to talk diet and nutrition and health and wellness with. I ordered Tim Ferriss’ book The 4-Hour Body. I found myself drawn to magazines and blogs about health. I read, experimented, and measured results.

This had to be my starting point. Before I could think about diet or exercise regimes, I had to get my mind into this. I needed to begin spending a proportionate amount of time thinking about physical fitness.